Salary Cap: Oilers line combos for the 18/19 season your predictions

[780il]

How I think TMac will have the lines game 1:

Nuge-Mcdavid-Rattie
Lucic-Drai-Rieder
Khaira-Strome-Pulju
Upshall-Brodziak-Kassian

Nurse-Larsson
Russel-Benning
Klefbom-Bouchard

How I think our lines will look by game 80 with the same roster:

Nuge-Mcdavid-Yamo
Lucic-Drai-Pulju
Khaira-Strome-Rieder
Upshall-Brodziak-Kassian

Klefbom-Larsson
Nurse-Bear
Russel-Benning

I think Bear and Yamo will spend half the year in Bakersfield and then come up around game 41 and solidify there spot in the lineup. Bouchard gets 9 games and gets sent to London for one last year of seasoning. Yamo and Pulju lock in there spots as the top 2 rws and Bear is our ppqb and #4/5 sharing ev ice time with Russel. Lucic bounces back to 18 ish goals and 47 ish points and Klefbom-Larsson is a great pairing for us like in 16-17.

 

[780il]

I think the biggest problem with Nuge is that he can't drive the play himself all that well because he isn't all that quick, he is shifty but not very fast. Hockey sense, IQ, defensive awareness, shot, accuracy, vision are all great. Having him with McDavid where he is the more defensive C of the 2 will do wonders for that line IMO. I wouldn't be shocked if he broke 70 this year, and would be pretty disappointed if he didn't hit 60 in a full season.

I think Nuge being ppg isnt out of the question if he plays with McDavid.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

A random idea for the defence, but would it be worth while to look at a Russell-Larsson pairing?

The first time they were tried together they didn't look good, but I believe since then they've had good numbers when played together.

I like this idea for a couple reasons. A) it lets Larsson play a more offensive role on his pairing; and B) it lets both Nurse and Klefbom play somewhat easier minutes, while still soaking up a ton of 5v5 ice time.

Nurse-Klefbom
Russell-Larsson
Jarabek/Grabel/Garrison/Bear/Benning

Klefbom-Nurse scares me a bit, but at the same time they'd be one of the most physically gifted pairings in the entire league.

 

[780il]

A random idea for the defence, but would it be worth while to look at a Russell-Larsson pairing?

The first time they were tried together they didn't look good, but I believe since then they've had good numbers when played together.

I like this idea for a couple reasons. A) it lets Larsson play a more offensive role on his pairing; and B) it lets both Nurse and Klefbom play somewhat easier minutes, while still soaking up a ton of 5v5 ice time.

Nurse-Klefbom
Russell-Larsson
Jarabek/Grabel/Garrison/Bear/Benning

Klefbom-Nurse scares me a bit, but at the same time they'd be one of the most physically gifted pairings in the entire league.

The problem is that Nurse or Klef cant really play the right side. Nurse played a lot on the right at the worlds and looked horrible.

 

[Oilception]

Nuge - McDavid - Strome
Rieder - Drai - Pulju
Lucic - Khaira - Drake
Upshall - Brodziak - Kassian

Klefbom Larsson
Nurse Benning
Russell Bouchard/Bear

 

[ConnorMcMullet]

Nuge - McDavid - Strome
Rieder - Drai - Pulju
Lucic - Khaira - Drake
Upshall - Brodziak - Kassian

Klefbom Larsson
Nurse Benning
Russell Bouchard/Bear

Khaira?

 

[Draiskull]

Khaira?

listed @ 3C in the post you quoted.
I would take Khaira over Strome as 3C

 

[MessierII]

The problem is that Nurse or Klef cant really play the right side. Nurse played a lot on the right at the worlds and looked horrible.

Klefbom played the right side in Sweden with Brodin back in the day.

 

[Aerrol]

Nuge - McDavid - Strome
Rieder - Drai - Pulju
Lucic - Khaira - Drake
Upshall - Brodziak - Kassian

Klefbom Larsson
Nurse Benning
Russell Bouchard/Bear

No. Strome has shown
1. that he can't get the puck off his stick quick enough or skate fast enough to play with McDavid
2. that he's better at centre. that's been true here and with the Islanders. We definitely should be using him as 3C.

 

[PaPaDee]

Nuge - McDavid - Strome
Rieder - Drai - Pulju
Lucic - Khaira - Drake
Upshall - Brodziak - Kassian

Klefbom Larsson
Nurse Benning
Russell Bouchard/Bear

For whatever reason, Strome seems to play much better at center than on wing. And he hasn't show enough offensive ability to play with McDavid IMO.

I still prefer:

Nuge - McDavid - Pulju
Khaira - Draisaitl - Rieder
Lucic - Strome - Rattie
Drake/Upshall - Brodziak - Kassian

 

[MessierII]

listed @ 3C in the post you quoted.
I would take Khaira over Strome as 3C

Khaira has looked better in his career so far at wing and vice versa for Strome. This makes no sense.

 

[BoldNewLettuce]

.i like strome but i wonder how close marody is to taking his job.

 

[PaPaDee]

.i like strome but i wonder how close marody is to taking his job.

Will be interesting to see how close Marody is in this camp. I'm not a big fan of Strome, but at this point, he's our best fit for 3c.

 

[Little Fury]

I think Nuge being ppg isnt out of the question if he plays with McDavid.

So like 60 points?

I love Nuge but he's a walking band-aid.

 

[Little Fury]

A random idea for the defence, but would it be worth while to look at a Russell-Larsson pairing?

The first time they were tried together they didn't look good, but I believe since then they've had good numbers when played together.

I like this idea for a couple reasons. A) it lets Larsson play a more offensive role on his pairing; and B) it lets both Nurse and Klefbom play somewhat easier minutes, while still soaking up a ton of 5v5 ice time.

Nurse-Klefbom
Russell-Larsson
Jarabek/Grabel/Garrison/Bear/Benning

Klefbom-Nurse scares me a bit, but at the same time they'd be one of the most physically gifted pairings in the entire league.

I'd love this idea way more if I was a Flames fan.

If you're putting Kris Russell in a position to play huge 5v5 minutes against top competition, you're begging for trouble.

 

[Draiskull]

So like 60 points?

I love Nuge but he's a walking band-aid.

In the last 5 seasons he has only had a broken hand from blocking a shot and broken ribs last year due to a hit.

I dont see RNH being at McDavids wing long term. I see Oilers going back to 3C strategy once guys like Yama and Puljujarvi gain traction in NHL.

 

[Draiskull]

I'd love this idea way more if I was a Flames fan.

If you're putting Kris Russell in a position to play huge 5v5 minutes against top competition, you're begging for trouble.

expect 0 offense from this pairing.. Russell-Larsson just doesnt make sense considering other available options.

 

[Jumptheshark]

If Nurse is signed

Klef-Bouchard
Nurse-Larson
Russel-Benning

for the games here in Europe

 

[shoop]

For whatever reason, Strome seems to play much better at center than on wing. And he hasn't show enough offensive ability to play with McDavid IMO.

I still prefer:

Nuge - McDavid - Pulju
Khaira - Draisaitl - Rieder
Lucic - Strome - Rattie
Drake/Upshall - Brodziak - Kassian

Pretty good overall with a few tweaks. I would prefer Upshall as 4LW, hopefully he makes the team.

If Lucic's weight loss provides the desired increase in foot speed I'd swap him and Khaira.

Potentially look at swapping Rattie and Kassian?

 

[PaPaDee]

Pretty good overall with a few tweaks. I would prefer Upshall as 4LW, hopefully he makes the team.

If Lucic's weight loss provides the desired increase in foot speed I'd swap him and Khaira.

Potentially look at swapping Rattie and Kassian?

I haven't been impressed with the chemistry between Lucic and Draisaitl, but if Lucic can bounce back, I think it makes sense to bump him up to the 2nd line. However, from what I recall, he also seemed to play well with Strome, so I'd like to see that pairing continue for a bit.

 

[Spawn]

Pretty good overall with a few tweaks. I would prefer Upshall as 4LW, hopefully he makes the team.

If Lucic's weight loss provides the desired increase in foot speed I'd swap him and Khaira.

Potentially look at swapping Rattie and Kassian?

Did Lucic lose weight? I thought I read in a Matheson article he didn’t really drop any. But maybe I’m just misremembering .

 

[shoop]

Did Lucic lose weight? I thought I read in a Matheson article he didn’t really drop any. But maybe I’m just misremembering .

I thought I read 10 to 15 pounds. I could be misremembering too.

I think Lucic is one of the keys to a return to the playoffs.

Three out of our six spots on the top 6 are all question marks to an extent.

Is Puljujarvi ready to make the jump?
Can Rieder come back after a down season last year?
Can Lucic regain form?

If all three come through that is a big piece of the puzzle for a team that can win a round or two in the playoffs.

 

[PaPaDee]

I thought I read 10 to 15 pounds. I could be misremembering too.

I think Lucic is one of the keys to a return to the playoffs.

Three out of our six spots on the top 6 are all question marks to an extent.

Is Puljujarvi ready to make the jump?
Can Rieder come back after a down season last year?
Can Lucic regain form?

If all three come through that is a big piece of the puzzle for a team that can win a round or two in the playoffs.

I think a recent SN article implied that Lucic didn't lose any weight this off-season.

 

[McAsuno]

 

[Little Fury]

Oilers gonna Oiler.